by Ken Minott
     Maine’s fastest track, Wiscasset Speedway, wrapped up racing for the month of June on Saturday night with Group 2 in action, plus the return of the Amsoil Nelcar Legends. The Norms Used Cars Strictly Streets had the spotlight race for the program supported by the Late Model Sportsman, Outlaw Minis, and Modifieds. Cole Watson of Naples had the hot hand on the night, running to his first points win at Wiscasset over Montville’s Bryan Robbins and Jonathan Emerson of Sabattus. Other winners included Corey Hall, Mark Lucas, and Zach Audet. As of press time, the Late Model Sportsman victor remains listed as unofficial pending a mandatory engine inspection.
     In the 35 lap spotlight feature for the Strictly Streets, #45 of Cole Watson lined up at the pole position with Chesterville’s Kim Knight in her #00 alongside. Knight would grab the lead through the early laps while Watson followed closely in 2nd. Watson retook the lead on a lap 13 restart and never looked back, rolling into victory lane to grab his first points win at Wiscasset. He was a previous winner of the Top Gun Strictly Shootout. Bryan Robbins was the big mover in the race, picking his way up from 12th to finish 2nd. He made the move of the race with 8 laps to go as he jumped from 4th up to 2nd exiting turn 4 in a spirited battle with Jonathan Emerson and Knight. Emerson, the 3rd generation racer from Sabattus stayed in the top 3 the entire race and rolled his #24 car in to claim the 3rd place trophy. His father Zach Emerson and point leader Michael Haynes filled out the top 5.

     It had been nearly a month since the Amsoil Nelcar Legends had made an appearance. The brought a healthy field of 18 cars onto the track for their 25 lap feature with Zachary Godbout and Bob Weymouth leading the pack to the green. Weymouth held the lead until young hot shoe Austin Teras took the lead away. That lead held up for a few laps but was soon passed by Corey Hall who followed him through traffic from 8th. Hall made his drive down from New Brunswick, Canada worth his while as he survived one mid-race caution and held off a late charge from Teras to secure the victory. Teras settled for the runner-up finish and Weymouth took third. Defending champ Kevin Girard Jr was one to watch as he worked the traffic like a champ, starting 18th and finishing 4th. Casey Call of Pembroke, NH also had a strong run from 16th up to 5th.
     Eighteen drivers took to the track for the 35 lap feature for the Wood Pellet Warehouse Late Model Sportsman division with Windham’s Steve Minott and Waldoboro’s Will Collins making up the front row. As usual, there were only a couple cautions to slow the action. Collins held the lead through the first 10 laps until defending champ Chris Thorne blasted up from his 10th starting position to grab the lead. He was followed by the point leader Nick Hinkley from his 17th starting spot. Hinkley reached 2nd by lap 15, but Thorne had built up a comfortable half straightaway advantage. A late race caution set up a green-white-checkered dash for the win with Thorne leading the way across the stripe first, ahead of Hinkley & Collins. Unfortunately, Thorne’s victory was short lived as his car did not pass post-race inspection for excessive left side weight. The win would then be bumped up to Hinkley, however, the win remains unofficial as Hinkley’s engine was pulled for mandatory inspection as a result of his 3rd win. Collins would go home with the 2nd place trophy and Wiscasset’s Brandon Bailey would notch his 3rd straight podium in 3rd, after starting 16th. The top 5 was completed by Liberty’s Ryan St Clair and Montville’s Tyler Robbins.
     The Kennebec Equipment Rental Outlaw Minis had their last tune-up race before their 75 lap Mini Madness race on July 8th. Former champ Jimmy Childs lined up on the front row with Whitefield’s Jake Hendsbee for the 25 lap tilt. The race looked well within Childs’ control through the first 8 laps but things took a major turn just a lap later as he suddenly slowed on the backstretch, handing over his lead to Hendsbee and bringing out the only caution of the race. Hendsbee held the lead on the ensuing restart long enough to get to turn one and from there it was the Zach Audet Show. The defending champ, who had missed a race with a blown engine, charged his way up from 10th to grab the lead and from there easily drove to his 3rd victory of the season. The win came at an expense however as he found (upon his required engine inspection) that he had cracked the block in yet another power plant. Hendsbee ran his best race in the Outlaw Mini’s and posted his first podium finish in 2nd. May Driver of the Month and Outlaw Mini point leader Brent Roy ran another solid race and claimed his 5th podium finish in as many races. Shawn Kimball and Tim Collins finished in 4th and 5th respectively.
     The Midcoast Region Napa Modifieds finished out the evening’s program with a 30 lap feature. With just 7 cars answering the bell, it was easy pickings for defending champ Mark Lucas of Harpswell. He started from the pole position and held off a pair of early race restarts. From there he cruised to his 2nd modified checkered flag of the season (Lucas is also a 2-time Super Street winner so far this year). Former champ Allan Moeller of Dresden turned in a solid performance in 2nd and took over the points lead in the process as Adam Chadbourne succumbed to mechanical problems. The previous winner Joe Williams had an eventful race, helping to bring out the race’s 2 caution flags only to bounce back each time and roll into victory lane for 3rd.
     Wiscasset Speedway returns to action on Saturday, July 1st with action in Group 1, including Super Streets, Thunder 4 Minis, and Prostocks. The 4-cylinder Pros will have a 35 lap spotlight feature. Plus the flex division race will be another 25 lap race for the Nelcar Legends. Grandstand gates will open at 2:00 pm, Pit gate at 4:00 pm and racing action will start at 6:00 pm. The C&D Laundry Kids Club will have a Red-White & Blue celebration for the kids complete with a kids parade through the grandstands and prizes. Grandstand admission is just $5 with kids 6&under free. Pit admission is $20 for all. More information can be found at www.wiscassetspeedway.com.
OFFICIAL FINISH 6/24/17
NORMS USED CARS STRICTLY STREETS (35 laps spotlight feature)
Pos No. Name Home Town Laps Diff
1 45 Cole Watson Naples 35
2 51x Bryan Robbins Montville 35 1.353
3 24E Jonathon Emerson Sabattus 35 1.774
4 23 Zachary Emerson Sabattus 35 2.914
5 67 Michael Haynes Livermore Falls 35 5.631
6 05 Brett Osmond Wiscasset 35 14.357
7 00 Kimberly Knight Chesterville 35 16.813
8 25 Brad Bellows China 25 10 Laps
9 47 Brian Caswell Buxton 12 23 Laps
10 2 Joe Hutter Phillips 12 23 Laps
11 66 James Grover Jr Newcastle race dq (conduct) 24 Laps
DNS         89             Faith Cleaves           Freeport             dns
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AMSOIL NELCAR LEGENDS (25 laps)
Pos No. Name Home Town Laps Diff
1 08 Cory Hall Jolicoure, New Brunswick 25
2 29 Austin Teras Windham 25 0.233
3 399 Bobby Weymouth Topsham 25 1.342
4 19 Kevin Girard, Jr. Old Orchard Beach 25 1.851
5 90NH Casey Call Pembroke, NH 25 2.422
6 14NH Thomas Everson Gilmanton, NH 25 2.96
7 47 Chris  Burgess Buckfield 25 3.139
8 18 Parker Varney Windham 25 3.592
9 67 Zachary Godbout Mt Vernon 25 4.899
10 56 Derek Debbis Oakdale, CT 25 5.23
11 10 Ed Getty Gray 25 5.689
12 4 Peter Craig Poland 25 6.367
13 8 Matt Chagnot Derry, NH 25 7.024
14 17 Terry Kirk Durham 25 9.014
15 52 Colby Benjamin Belmont 24 1 Lap
16 92 Colby Meserve Buxton 18 7 Laps
17 31 Noah Korner Bloomfield, CT 8 17 Laps

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WOOD PELLET WAREHOUSE LATE MODEL SPORTSMAN (35 laps)
* LATE MODEL FINISH IS UNOFFICIAL PENDING ENGINE INSPECTION
Pos No. Name Home Town Laps Diff
1 15 Nick Hinkley Wiscasset 35
2 25 Will Collins Waldoboro 35 0.45
3 47 Brandon Bailey Woolwich 35 0.871
4 30 Ryan St. Clair Liberty 35 0.93
5 36 Tyler Robbins Montville 35 1.948
6 55 Steve Barker Turner 35 2.227
7 1 Steve Chicoine Walpole 35 2.461
8 15M Frank Moulton Clinton 35 2.553
9 11 Cody Verrill Richmond 35 2.827
10 3 Richard Jordan Kingfield 34 1 Lap
11 28 Steve Minott Windham 34 1 Lap
12 00 Alex Waltz Portland 32 3 Laps
13 33 Josh St.Clair Liberty 23 12 Laps
14 8 Luke Romanoski Freeman 23 12 Laps
15 7 Tyler Bailey Wiscasset 19 16 Laps
16 19 Shane Kaherl Jay 8 27 Laps
17 29 Ben Erskine Farmington 8 27 Laps
DQ 17 Chris Thorne Sidney 35 DQ

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KENNEBEC EQUIPMENT RENTAL OUTLAW MINIS (25 laps)
Pos No. Name Home Town Laps Diff
1 19ME Zach Audet Oakland 25
2 27 Jake Hendsbee Whitefield 25 2.017
3 26 Brent Roy Vassalboro 25 3.182
4 20 Shawn Kimball Augusta 25 3.466
5 18 Tim Collins Farmingdale 25 4.346
6 41M Larry Melcher Jay 25 5.444
7 41 Shane Smith Augusta 25 10.502
8 2x Rob Greenleaf Bath 25 12.966
9 53 Nick Bissell Liberty 22 3 Laps
10 10 Jimmy Childs Leeds 9 16 Laps
11 36 Megan  Frost Montville 2 23 Laps

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MIDCOAST REGION NAPA MODIFIEDS (30 laps)
Pos No. Name Home Town Laps Diff
1 5 Mark Lucas Harpswell 30
2 04 Allan Moeller Dresden 30 1.337
3 15 Joseph Williams Woolwich 30 3.594
4 21 Tom Young Freeport 29 1 Lap
5 8 Richard Jordan Kingfield 28 2 Laps
6 33 Ron Bryant Livermore 10 20 Laps
7 1 Adam Chadbourne Wiscasset 4 26 Laps